Thursday, August 07, 2008

Breakfast On The Homestead

Here are some quick and easy breakfast recipes. I have been working on my stocking up list and had to make some recipes of what we like to eat for breakfast. Some days we just grab a fruit and yogurt or some toast and jam, but I really like to make something substantial to get through the day.
Rise and Shine Casserole

6 slices dry whole wheat bread
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups milk / shredded cheese
1/2 tsp dry mustard
3 eggs, beaten
Salt and Pepper

Tear bread into small pieces. Layer 1/4 of the bread and 1/4 of your cheese 4 times in a casserole dish. Pour melted butter on top. Combine remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix well. Pour mixture onto casserole. Refrigerate overnight. First thing in the morning, bake for 1 hour in 350 degree oven. Variations: add crumbled fried sausage or bacon, ham, cooked beans, jalapenos, shredded cheese. Smother casserole with chili, chili sauce, cooked beans, or gravy.

Home Made Hashbrowns

Slice potatoes in half and boil for ten minutes. Cover with cold water and refrigerate overnight. Shred (peeling the potatoes is optional) and fry in oil in skillet until brown on both sides.
Another Way to Hashbrown Potatoes: Boil potatoes whole, let cool, place in a well-oiled frying skillet or on griddle, mash with a potato masher, fry until crisp on bottom, flip until done on the other side. A Third Way to Hashbrown Potatoes: Use leftover baked potatoes, place in well oiled skillet, mash with a potato masher, fry on both sides. Note that with all recipes for hashbrown potatoes, the secret is to cook the potatoes the day before and refrigerate overnight..

Redneck Eggs Benedict

Large biscuits
2 eggs, boiled
1/8 lb sausage or bacon
2 potatoes, hash browned
2 cups cheese sauce or gravy
Homemade Large biscuits.
Slice in half, layer on each biscuit half, in this order: fried hashbrowns, 1/4 boiled egg, fried sausage or crumbled bacon, top with cheese sauce, gravy, or other sauce.
For Redneck Eggs Florentine: substitute cooked turnip greens for meat.

Potato Pancakes

To 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes, add 1 egg and 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour, optional is to add a 1-2 Tbsp. chopped onion.
Mix thoroughly, make small dollar size pancakes, fry on medium griddle on both sides until done. Homemade applesauce is delicious on top and the traditional way to eat Latkes in the Jewish home.

Creamed Eggs

Add 2 to 4 hard cooked eggs, cut into quarters, to 1 cup medium white sauce.
Serve hot over toast or biscuits or rice. You can sprinkle with paprika and parsley, crisp bacon bits, etc. Variation, add small amount of fried sausage to the white sauce.

Oatmeal Pancakes

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg, beaten 2 tbsp butter
1-1/2 cups milk with 1 tbsp of vinegar in it (or use buttermilk)

Soak oats in one cup milk for five minutes. Add other ingredients, mix well. Heat griddle (test for hotness by sprinkling some water on it, if the bubbles "skitter" around the pan, it's ready). Make small pancakes, turn when brown. If you don't have vinegar or buttermilk, use regular skim milk and increase baking powder to 1-1/2 tsp and omit baking soda.
To make the pancakes extra fluffy, separate the egg yolk and white, beat separately, add egg yolk and milk, then add stiffly beaten egg whites.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup 100% whole wheat flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg

This makes a light and fluffy pancake. Mix dry ingredients, add the oil and mix thoroughly, beat two eggs and add to 1 cup milk, mix with dry ingredients. This 1 cup recipe makes pancakes for two adults, 12 -14 dollar size pancakes. Serve with peanut butter and homemade jam.

Buttermilk Pancakes

1-1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp oil
1-1/4 cups flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
dash of salt

Mix ingredients, cook as described in Oatmeal Pancakes. If you use plain milk rather than buttermilk, adjust baking powder as described in Oatmeal Pancakes.

Breakfast Tacos
1 cup cooked rice or fried potatoes
1/8 - 1/4 lb sausage
chopped onion
corn or flour tortillas
2 eggs beaten
chopped jalapenos
hot sauce
salsa

Fry sausage (or bacon, or ham) with the onion and jalapenos and drain the grease. Add rice or potatoes, stir until hot, add beaten eggs, scramble together with the sausage. Meanwhile, heat the tortillas on a griddle or directly over a low flame. Divide sausage/rice mixture among the tortillas, add hot sauce/salsa, and/or cheese as desired. Makes 6-8 tacos. Variations: (1) smother with hot dog chili sauce. (2) Add fresh chopped tomatoes, and/or chopped black olives, and/or chopped green onion.

Breakfast Pizza

1 recipe pizza dough
4 eggs
1 cup hash brown potatoes
grated cheese
1/2 lb sausage
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper

Cook sausage until browned, drain fat. Place pizza dough in an ungreased pan, spread melted butter on the dough. Spoon sausage over dough, sprinkle with potatoes, top with grated cheese. Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour onto crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Breakfast Pockets

1 recipe bread dough - Ingredients similar to breakfast pizza

Divide the bread dough into small balls of dough about the size of a bun. Let rise, then roll into circles. Brush dough lightly with olive oil. Prepare filling, and put a couple of tablespoons of filling on each circle of dough. Lightly moisten the edge of the circle with water, and then fold over like a turnover pastry and seal the edges. Bake in a 425 degree oven until bread is done. Brush with melted butter after baking.

Tortillas and Eggs

This is a good way to make a few eggs go a long way. Fry some bacon or sausage, remove from pan and set aside. Tear corn tortillas into pieces (smaller pieces are better, say 8 pieces to the tortilla), saute in oil with chopped onion, garlic, and sliced jalapeno peppers. Saute for about 3-4 minutes. Beat 2 to 4 eggs, crumble sausage or bacon, and add meat and beaten eggs to tortillas, stirring constantly while the eggs scramble and set. For each egg, you can add 3-4 torn-up tortillas.

Crockpot Oatmeal

Put oatmeal, water, and any dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, etc. in a crockpot at night before you go to bed. Cook on low, it's ready in the morning. Add honey and milk to taste.


Have a good day and eat a good breakfast!

katlupe

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Making Herbal Vinegar Today!

I am making a herbal vinegar today. I collect jars of various sizes and use plastic lids for them. For vinegar you would not want to be using metal lids as the vinegar will affect the lid and corrode it. So stick to plastic in this case. I never use plastic containers if I can help it. Glass. My best friend taught me that and she was right about that. Smell that plastic container!


Apple cider vinegar is my choice for my health. It was used by the father of medicine, Hippocrates. He only used honey and vinegar as remedies. With good reason too! Apple cider vinegar aides your digestion, reduces cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, useful in preventing as well as aiding in treatment of Osteoporosis, useful in bringing thyroid and metabolic to normal levels, reducing cancer risks as well as making wrinkles and grey hair less noticeable (that will probably get everyone using it immediately!).


You can purchase organic online or in your local health food store, but I just use the pasturized one right off the shelf of my grocery store. Wide mouth jars are easier to work with as you will be removing the herb when you are done. Fill your jar with fresh-cut fragrant herbs including the stalks, fruits, roots and even nuts. Fill the jar really well, all the way to the top with the herb. Be sure to chop your herbs finely. Best results and highest mineral content will come from a jar full of herbs! Really fill the jar. This will take far more herb or root than you would think. Then put your room temperature vinegar in the jar to the top. Cover and date and put it in the back of a cupboard away from direct sunlight, but it does not have to be dark. Don't forget about it. Leave it for six weeks.


Herbal vinegars taste good and are good for you. So use them often as they boost the nutrient level of your diet with hardly any effort and at harly any cost at all. Some easy ways to incorporate them into your every day diet:


Add a spoonful or two in your bean and grain dishes for flavor.
Of course, use them in your homemade salad dressing.
Add them to cooked greens.
Add them to your stir-fries.
Make soups that welcome vinegar like a borscht.
Always use your herbal vinegar in recipes that call for vinegar.
A spoonful in a glass of water sweetened with blackstrap molasses will give you a mineral jolt. Use this as a coffee substitute as it prevents and also relieves the discomfort of arthritic pain.


Plants That Make A Tasty and Nutritional Herbal Vinegar:
Apple mint (Mentha sp.) leaves, stalks
Bee balm (Monarda didyma) flowers, leaves, stalks
Bergamot (Monarda sp.) flowers, leaves, stalks
Burdock (Arctium lappa) roots
Catnip (Nepeta cataria) leaves, stalks
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) leaves, roots
Chives and especially chive blossoms
Dandelion (Taraxacum off.) flower buds, leaves, roots
Dill (Anethum graveolens) herb, seeds
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) herb, seeds
Garlic (Allium sativum) bulbs, greens, flowers
Garlic mustard (Alliaria officinalis) leaves and roots
Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) flowers
Ginger (Zingiber off.) and Wild ginger (Asarum canadensis) roots
Lavender (Lavendula sp.) flowers, leaves
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) new growth leaves and roots
Orange mint (Mentha sp.) leaves, stalks
Orange peel, organic only
Peppermint (Mentha piperata and etc.) leaves, stalks
Perilla (Shiso) (Agastache) leaves, stalks
Rosemary (Rosmarinus off.) leaves, stalks
Spearmint (Mentha spicata) leaves, stalks
Thyme (Thymus sp.) leaves, stalks
White pine (Pinus strobus) needles
Yarrow (Achilllea millifolium) flowers and leaves



So what could be easier? Just one new idea to add some nutrients to your diet today.



Copyright © 2008  Kathleen G. Lupole